Thursday, 12 July 2012

Olympic Posters: The Art & Spirit of Sport

Citius, Altius, Fortius

The Games of the XXIXth Olympiad ~ Beijing, 2008

“The
Olympic Movement gives the world an ideal which reckons with the reality of
life, and includes a possibility to guide this reality toward the great Olympic
Idea.” ~ Pierre de Coubertin (1863-1937)

(French educator primarily responsible for the revival of the Olympic Games in 1896)

“The official Olympic posters provide a visual history of the image of each edition of the Olympic Games. They act as witnesses to both the styles and values of their time as well as the social and political context of the era.”

“These posters, which span a century of Olympic history, draw on a specific vocabulary of symbols which can be divided into two main groups. The first includes figurative elements of significance for the host country such as public monuments, statues, flags, landscapes or cityscapes. The second puts more of an accent on graphic elements (e.g. poster of Mexico City 1968) or on the emblem of the Games (a design featuring the Olympic rings together with other distinctive elements). The most recent posters rely heavily on this form of communication and any text tends to be limited to the name of the host city and the year of the Games.”

“The Olympic rings themselves are usually what makes official posters immediately identifiable. Indeed, since 1928, the year they first appeared, the rings have been the overall unifying element on official posters.”

“The official Olympic posters show the evolution not only of the Games themselves but also of design and poster art from 1896 to today. They are an Olympic tradition, and serves to remind us of each edition of the Games. Windows on the past, they let the Games of yesterday live and breathe.”(Quoted from: olympic.org)

As with the original host city, Tokyo, Japan, the Helsinki 1940 XIIth Olympic Games were cancelled due to World War II The same poster was re-purposed for the 1952 XVth Olympiad when the host city, Helsinki, was once again granted the Games.

“The Olympics are a wonderful metaphor for world cooperation, the kind of international competition that's wholesome and healthy, an interplay between countries that represents the best in all of us.”~ John Chester Williams (American archer & 1972 Gold Medalist)

“If you dream and you allow yourself to dream, you can do anything. And that's what this Olympic medal represents.”~ Clara Hughes
(Canadian & six-time Olympic medalist in cycling & speed skating; Hughes is the only athlete in history to win multiple medals in both Summer & Winter Games)

“One shouldn't be afraid to lose; this is sport. One day you win; another day you lose. Of course, everyone wants to be the best; this is normal; this is what sport is about; this is why I love it.”~ Oksana Baiul